Scarlet Letter Reflection
In my Scarlet Letter essay, I explained how Hester turned out to be a wonderful person at the end of the book. The letter "A" went from standing for adultery to standing for able, and then it stood for angel. In English 3 Honors, I have learned a lot about writing. I have learned that it isn't good writing to say "you." We have learned that writing is very important. We have also learned that it is better not to talk in first person. I think the most helpful thing that we have learned in this class is that writing is very important because we will have to do a ton of writing in college.
When I was revising my essay, I had to go back and look to see if I had any gramatical mistakes, and then I tried to fix them. After reading Mrs. Turner's response to my essay, I realized that there was a few things that I messed up on, such as not explaining Hester very well. I also didn't have my quotes in the correct format.
I like how Hank starts out his scarlet letter essay by saying, "Public ridicule, constant persecution, imprisonment, outcast from society." This explains what Hester went through in The Scarlet Letter. I also like how Holt Harrell compared The Scarlet Letter to today's society. He said, "Not only did people single out Hester Prynne many years ago, they also single out people in today's modern society." This is very true because many people leave others out in today's society, especially in high school. I like how Drew Dodds used the quote, "Who is that Hester I shiver at him." This quote was said by Chillingworth talking about Dimmesdale because Chillingworth does not like Dimmesdale because of his affair with Hester. Out of these three people, I think that Hank's was the best because he did a very good job of connecting what he was saying back to the text.
Thursday, October 18, 2007
Thursday, October 11, 2007
Scarlet Letter Essay
She may seem like an awful person at first, but later on Hester really turns out to be a wonderful person. Hester looks out for others, and she cares about them. She is also very loving and courageous. She shows love and courage all throughout the book. Hester Prynne commited adultery against her husband with another man, and now the town is making her wear a huge "A" on her chest. Some of the people in the town even think that she should be killed. Hester wore the scarlet letter with pride because she embroidered a beautiful design on the scarlet letter.
Hester shows so much courage throughout the whole book. One of the most important ways is that she doesn't fight back against the persecution at the beginning of the book. She just stood with her head held high, and let everyone see the scarlet letter on her chest. She also held her baby down below the beautiful scarlet letter that she embroidered. Hester showed a lot of courage by embroidering the scarlet letter. She made it stand out, and it was neat how she almost made the other people jealous by having such a fantastic letter on her chest.
In The Scarlet Letter, it says,
"On the breast of her gown, in fine red cloth, surrounded with an elaborate
embroidery and fantastic flourishes of gold thread, appeared the letter A.
It was so artistically done, and with so much fertility and gorgeous
luxuriance of fancy, that it had all the effect of a last and fitting
decoration to the apparel which she wore; and which was of a splendor
in accordance with the taste of the age, but greatly beyond what
was allowed by the sumptuary regulations of the colony."
Hester is also very courageous by bringing up Pearl on her own for seven years without a father. It takes a very strong person to do this, especially having to bring up a child like Pearl, who is known as the "devil child."
Besides being courageous, Hester Prynne is also very loving. She loves knitting and she uses it to support herself and Pearl for seven years. It's obvious that Hester is very good at knitting too because at the beginning of the book it talks about how beautiful the scarlet letter was after Hester embroidered it. Hester also loves Pearl very much, even though the sight of her brings her heartache, but Pearl also brings her joy. In the book, Hester says, "She is my happiness!- She is my torture, none the less! Pearl keeps me here in life!" It is easy to tell by the quote that Hester really cares for Pearl, and Pearl also loves Hester dearly, too.
When Hester and Dimmesdale are in the woods talking, Hester says,
"Let her see nothing strange-no passion or eagerness-
in thy way of accosting her. Our Pearl is a fitful and
fantastic little elf, sometimes. Especially, she is seldom
tolerant of emotion when she does not fully comprehend
the why and wherefore. But the child hath strong
affections! She loves me, and will love thee!"
In The Scarlet Letter, Hester loves Dimmesdale too even though he basically shunned her for seven years. It is easy to see that Hester loves Dimmesdale because she could have taken the blame off herself some by exposing that Dimmesdale was the father, but she never did.
In conclusion, Hester Prynne isn't the person that she seems to be. Instead, she is much greater than that. She really loves and cares about peple, and she does well by showing it. In The Scarlet Letter, Hester loves Pearl and Dimmesdale very much, and she also cares about them. Hester shows her love for them many times throughout the book. Hawthorne most likely created Hester as a loving character to show the readers that love is very important. If Hester hadn't had love for people, she would have gotten nowhere. Her love helped her to be strong and courageous.
Hester shows so much courage throughout the whole book. One of the most important ways is that she doesn't fight back against the persecution at the beginning of the book. She just stood with her head held high, and let everyone see the scarlet letter on her chest. She also held her baby down below the beautiful scarlet letter that she embroidered. Hester showed a lot of courage by embroidering the scarlet letter. She made it stand out, and it was neat how she almost made the other people jealous by having such a fantastic letter on her chest.
In The Scarlet Letter, it says,
"On the breast of her gown, in fine red cloth, surrounded with an elaborate
embroidery and fantastic flourishes of gold thread, appeared the letter A.
It was so artistically done, and with so much fertility and gorgeous
luxuriance of fancy, that it had all the effect of a last and fitting
decoration to the apparel which she wore; and which was of a splendor
in accordance with the taste of the age, but greatly beyond what
was allowed by the sumptuary regulations of the colony."
Hester is also very courageous by bringing up Pearl on her own for seven years without a father. It takes a very strong person to do this, especially having to bring up a child like Pearl, who is known as the "devil child."
Besides being courageous, Hester Prynne is also very loving. She loves knitting and she uses it to support herself and Pearl for seven years. It's obvious that Hester is very good at knitting too because at the beginning of the book it talks about how beautiful the scarlet letter was after Hester embroidered it. Hester also loves Pearl very much, even though the sight of her brings her heartache, but Pearl also brings her joy. In the book, Hester says, "She is my happiness!- She is my torture, none the less! Pearl keeps me here in life!" It is easy to tell by the quote that Hester really cares for Pearl, and Pearl also loves Hester dearly, too.
When Hester and Dimmesdale are in the woods talking, Hester says,
"Let her see nothing strange-no passion or eagerness-
in thy way of accosting her. Our Pearl is a fitful and
fantastic little elf, sometimes. Especially, she is seldom
tolerant of emotion when she does not fully comprehend
the why and wherefore. But the child hath strong
affections! She loves me, and will love thee!"
In The Scarlet Letter, Hester loves Dimmesdale too even though he basically shunned her for seven years. It is easy to see that Hester loves Dimmesdale because she could have taken the blame off herself some by exposing that Dimmesdale was the father, but she never did.
In conclusion, Hester Prynne isn't the person that she seems to be. Instead, she is much greater than that. She really loves and cares about peple, and she does well by showing it. In The Scarlet Letter, Hester loves Pearl and Dimmesdale very much, and she also cares about them. Hester shows her love for them many times throughout the book. Hawthorne most likely created Hester as a loving character to show the readers that love is very important. If Hester hadn't had love for people, she would have gotten nowhere. Her love helped her to be strong and courageous.
Nature Essay
Nature Essay
Our nature walk in Mrs. Turner's class was very enjoyable. It is something that we should do more often. Nature is very beautiful, and it helps you to relax. Even though I did like the nature walk, it was very hot outside. There was also poison ivy and thorns everywhere. A few people had to go back to the classroom because they were allergic to poison ivy. On the whole, I think that it was a good idea for us to take a nature walk because it gave us a chance to have a little fun. Most people didn't really enjoy the beauty of nature because they discovered a ropes course that the ROTC uses. On the ropes course, they would climb up a tree and then roll down this huge net. Also, there were beer cans everywhere and you could hear the rushing of traffic down Highway 81, but this shows how society has changed over time. Most of us just mainly liked the nature walk because it got us out of class and it meant that we didn't have to do any work.
Emerson and Thoreau really show the importance of nature. In "Nature," Emerson states, "Nature never wears a mean appearance." I think that this statement is very true because nature is always beautiful, no matter where you are. Even if you are in the woods next to T.L. Hanna High School, nature is still something pretty to look at if you ignore some of the things in it like the beer cans and the ropes course. To me, how the sun was coming in from the trees was really beautiful. Emerson also says, "Standing on the bare ground-my head bathed by the blithe air, and uplifted into infinite space-all mean egotism vanishes." In this quote, blithe means carefree, but it can also mean happy. When Emerson says this, he is talking about how everything else in the world just vanishes when he is observing nature. This isn't really true for me because I like to look at nature sometimes, but I still like being inside, and I'm not exactly a "camping" person. I enjoy being in nature sometimes, but not all the time. Nature can really make you relax. In "Walden," Thoreau says: "...I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived." Thoreau is describing how he wants to get away from everything else in the world and just go have time to himself in nature. He is saying that he wants to see only the essential facts of life, and see what he could learn from it. This explains what a lot of people need to do today. So many of us are so used to the technologies that we have today that we get caught up in it, and we forget some of the most important things in life which God has created. Nature can be very relaxing, and people should get away from their hectic lives and enjoy nature from time to time.
Nature is very important, but most people don't see that today. Most people get so caught up in things such as air conditioning, T.V., and computers that they forget about things that are truly important. Most people in our society today couldn't survive if they had to live like people many many years ago because we are so used to going to the grocery store to get the food that we need. You are beginning to see less of nature because a lot of trees and forests are being cut down so that buildings can be built. In years to come, people probably won't even go out to see nature anymore. This shows how society has changed over time.
Our nature walk in Mrs. Turner's class was very enjoyable. It is something that we should do more often. Nature is very beautiful, and it helps you to relax. Even though I did like the nature walk, it was very hot outside. There was also poison ivy and thorns everywhere. A few people had to go back to the classroom because they were allergic to poison ivy. On the whole, I think that it was a good idea for us to take a nature walk because it gave us a chance to have a little fun. Most people didn't really enjoy the beauty of nature because they discovered a ropes course that the ROTC uses. On the ropes course, they would climb up a tree and then roll down this huge net. Also, there were beer cans everywhere and you could hear the rushing of traffic down Highway 81, but this shows how society has changed over time. Most of us just mainly liked the nature walk because it got us out of class and it meant that we didn't have to do any work.
Emerson and Thoreau really show the importance of nature. In "Nature," Emerson states, "Nature never wears a mean appearance." I think that this statement is very true because nature is always beautiful, no matter where you are. Even if you are in the woods next to T.L. Hanna High School, nature is still something pretty to look at if you ignore some of the things in it like the beer cans and the ropes course. To me, how the sun was coming in from the trees was really beautiful. Emerson also says, "Standing on the bare ground-my head bathed by the blithe air, and uplifted into infinite space-all mean egotism vanishes." In this quote, blithe means carefree, but it can also mean happy. When Emerson says this, he is talking about how everything else in the world just vanishes when he is observing nature. This isn't really true for me because I like to look at nature sometimes, but I still like being inside, and I'm not exactly a "camping" person. I enjoy being in nature sometimes, but not all the time. Nature can really make you relax. In "Walden," Thoreau says: "...I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived." Thoreau is describing how he wants to get away from everything else in the world and just go have time to himself in nature. He is saying that he wants to see only the essential facts of life, and see what he could learn from it. This explains what a lot of people need to do today. So many of us are so used to the technologies that we have today that we get caught up in it, and we forget some of the most important things in life which God has created. Nature can be very relaxing, and people should get away from their hectic lives and enjoy nature from time to time.
Nature is very important, but most people don't see that today. Most people get so caught up in things such as air conditioning, T.V., and computers that they forget about things that are truly important. Most people in our society today couldn't survive if they had to live like people many many years ago because we are so used to going to the grocery store to get the food that we need. You are beginning to see less of nature because a lot of trees and forests are being cut down so that buildings can be built. In years to come, people probably won't even go out to see nature anymore. This shows how society has changed over time.
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